Why lemons will help June Mountain

July 13, 2012

A group of Lee Vining students gave Mammoth Mountain Ski Area CEO Rusty Gregory, left, a check for almost $150 that the students raised after they sold lemonade to help save June Mountain from closing.

I was so disappointed when I found out about June Mountain closing, I refused to believe it. I mean, in my position, it just seemed impossible that all of those people would lose their jobs. I just couldnâ€™t bear it. But when the problem finally sunk in, my sister Ellery, best friend Jordyn, and I began to brainstorm all sorts of ideas left and right.

One idea was a lemonade stand. We had had the idea before, but just for entertainment. We gave the money (all 100 percent of it) to the animal shelter. And we definitely got more than the mere $20 we had expected. But this time, weâ€™re much bigger. We have more lemonade, more treats, and most importantly, more workers. A lot of the workers are June race team kids. We all want to help. Weâ€™re doing the lemonade stand in June Lake on July 15 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Now, youâ€™re probably wondering: whom are they going to give the money to? June Mountain, of course, but who will give the money to the mountain the correct way? We hope that sending our profits from the first lemonade stand to Mammoth Mountain and Rusty Gregory will show that weâ€™re doing the very best we can and hopefully inspire others to do so too. We also want this article to help the forest service and county and Rusty Gregory to come together and help June.

June Mountain is special, really. But some people donâ€™t realize how much it means to the kids who have been there since age 2. Those who have grown up there. Practically lived there. There are no words for the way we feel, zipping down Sunset, our brand new red-black-and-white race team jackets flying behind us, grinning as we pull into the finish line of our first real ski race.

Our hearts swell as we make tiny hairpin turns around the moguls. Everything melts into bliss as we fly off of jumps soaring through the air with the birds. Itâ€™s impossible that just sitting at Stew Potâ€™s, sipping water and eating graham crackers with our fellow racers may never happen again. Itâ€™s depressing to think that we may never be part of a June Mountain team again.

So please, keep June open so no one has to lose a job or a home, so we locals can keep that golden-skiing feeling and so everyone can experience the love of June Mountain.